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Memorial Day 2006 - Taking Back the Holiday.

By The Armorer on May 29, 2006 | | Comments (9) | TrackBacks (7)

Lieutenant Leonard Cowherd in the TC hatch of his Abrams in Iraq

I don't mind the sales. Commerce built this country. I don't mind "Going to the Lake" - having fun with family and friends makes life worth living. And this day is about having a life worth living.

And I know that most of us (though not perhaps those who read this space) have no memory of a loved one lost in war. Many of the younger of us don't remember or never knew a relative who served in time of war.

Have a good time. That's the point.

By living your life, planning your future, you redeem the voucher that those who have answered the Last Call for the last time bought for you.

Their service was *all* about the Capital F Future.

Just by living our lives, and taking an interest in what goes on around us, we pay that debt. We can pay it ahead by keeping an eye on those who commit us to war. And recognizing that avoidance for avoidance's sake is as bad in its way as rushing headlong and blindly into battle. Truly, in this arena, the answer lies in the middle, not at the extremes.

But.


BUT...

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Whatever else you do with your free day - Remember Them. It only takes a moment. But Remember. They are not truly gone until we forget.

For some of us, the true meaning of this holiday doesn't come into focus until...

We Hear The Knock.

Attend The Funeral.

And Bury Our Dead.

This is why today is Memorial Day.

Click here - and Remember.


Crossposted at Milblogs and Smash's.

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Why Memorial Day Matters from The Middle Ground on May 29, 2006 7:53 AM

We are organized, comrades, as our regulations tell us, for the purpose among other things, 'of preserving and strengthening those kind and fraternal feelings which have bound together the soldiers, sailors, and marines who united to suppress the lat... Read More

Memorial Day - Round Ups from BLACKFIVE on May 29, 2006 10:04 AM

Lorie Byrd at Wizbang! has a round of Memorial Day links. John Donovan has a three part series about Memorial Day - One, Two, Three. And has these stories to tell: Captain William Galt, KIA 29 May '44, MOH Gold Read More

Remember from The Indepundit on May 29, 2006 11:43 AM

EVERY YEAR, tens of thousands of people visit Cabrillo National Monument, on the tip of San Diego’s Point Loma. On either side of the road leading to the monument lies a cemetery. Most people never stop, or even slow down,... Read More

Memory - 2006 from TacJammer on May 29, 2006 5:18 PM

It seems that nearly everyone in my blogrolls has something to say for Memorial Day. Me, I'll just repeat part of what I said last year: There is something fundamentally sacred that attaches to those who have given their lives for this great nation, an... Read More

Memorial Day 2006 from Blue Star Chronicles on May 29, 2006 5:45 PM

It’s a day of honor and sadness as I think of all the young men who died on battle fields around the world and didn’t have the opportunity to grow old. We owe them everything. Read More

Remember from The Indepundit on May 29, 2006 9:27 PM

EVERY YEAR, tens of thousands of people visit Cabrillo National Monument, on the tip of San Diego’s Point Loma. On either side of the road leading to the monument lies a cemetery. Most people never stop, or even slow down,... Read More

Remember from The Indepundit on May 30, 2006 4:46 PM

EVERY YEAR, tens of thousands of people visit Cabrillo National Monument, on the tip of San Diego’s Point Loma. On either side of the road leading to the monument lies a cemetery. Most people never stop, or even slow down,... Read More

9 Comments

By kat-missouri on May 29, 2006 8:05 AM
First, thank you for the posts about LT Cowherd. Second, we will be at the ceremonies this afternoon in Leavenworth. Third, sorry about the multiple trackbacks. Looks like haloscan lost it's mind a few times this morning.
 
By cw4(ret)billt on May 29, 2006 8:52 AM
Looks like haloscan lost it's mind a few times this morning. Nope. Sometimes even the inanimate Remember...
 
By Flip on May 29, 2006 11:23 AM
It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived. General GEORGE S. PATTON, JR.,
 
By Chipper on May 29, 2006 11:55 AM
If you would like to read something more about LT Cowherd: http://www.west-point.org/users/usma2003/59609/
 
By Joatmoaf on May 29, 2006 1:48 PM
Excellent post. Too often people seem to forget what this day is about. To them it's just beer and BBQ. A Moment Of Silence
 
By Joatmoaf on May 29, 2006 1:48 PM
Excellent post. Too often people seem to forget what this day is about. To them it's just beer and BBQ. A Moment Of Silence
 
By jim b on May 30, 2006 10:28 AM
My thanks to my Pop, SSgt WWII, my Uncle Jerry Sgt USA WWII, my father-in-law Tom still living USA WWII, and Grandad Al USA WWI. Godspeed to my son David in basic training US Army, and my son-in-law SSgt Pete Army National Guard on the way to the Sandbox. From the lone former Marine in the crowd, Semper Fi
 
By jim b on May 30, 2006 10:32 AM
Oh my bad almost forgot my son-is-law Jim former USAF. Does the USAF count as a branch of the military? :-)
 
By Jon The Mechanic on May 30, 2006 1:51 PM
My new womanfriend (She who WANTS to be obeyed) asked me why I was so quiet yesterday while watching the specials on tv yesterday, I will explain it to her someday.